You asked, Ken answers ...

I have interviewed several people for an important position here, but I have not found a good match. I was not satisfied with the last applicant, but after my manager looked at his resume, he told me that I should seriously consider hiring him. I think that would be a mistake, but I don't want to cross my manager. What do you think?

All you were asked to do is to seriously consider hiring this applicant, and you are not crossing your manager if you do just that: seriously consider hiring this person. If you still find that he is not right for the job, move on to the next.

It is your responsibility to fill this position, and that is what you should do. If your manager is actually ordering you to hire this individual, then something is out of order with his ability to manage. And further, his decision on this applicant is particularly flawed because it based solely on the limited data that appear in a resume.

At the same time, perhaps his message is for you to look more carefully at the standards, methods, and criteria that you are applying in the screening process. Is it possible that you have established hurdles that are so high that no applicant can clear them? After all, many employers today are placing less emphasis on fitting an applicant into the job, and more emphasis on building the job around an applicant.

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